102 dead in Russian restaurant fire

Over 100 people were killed overnight when fireworks set ablaze a middle-class restaurant in the Russian Ural city of Perm, as officials Saturday ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack."As of now, there are 102 dead and 134 injured," a regional emergency situations ministry spokesman in Perm told AFP by telephone.

Flames went up in the Lame Horse restaurant as some 230 people, mostly employees and their families, were partying inside to celebrate the establishment's seventh anniversary, local police said as quoted by ITAR-TASS, suggesting that the blaze was caused by a fireworks rocket gone wrong.

A police source told RIA Novosti that most victims succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning in the crush as the panicked crowd rushed to escape.

Officials ruled out the possibility that the tragedy was due to a terrorist act as FSB security service experts found no trace of explosive devices or other clues that could support the theory.

"The accident was due to a violation of instructions when launching fireworks," the investigative committee's spokesman Vladimir Markin told Vesti-24 television."There is no chance it was a terrorist act, I can say that 100 percent," Markin added.

"There were fireworks launched at the scene, and one hit the plastic ceiling, setting all ablaze. People panicked and succumbed to burns, general crush and gas poisoning," the Perm region's public security minister Igor Orlov was quoted by ITAR-TASS as saying at the scene of the accident.

-AFP